One of the perks of living in North Carolina is rarely having to stop
playing golf. Tournament series continue over the winter, and hardy
golfers turn out to compete.

Among the winter golfers are the juniors who compete in the Eastern Junior Golf Association, which visited Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington on Feb. 6-7.

Andrew Fowler of Cary and Eric Bae of Raleigh were among the champions crowned on Sunday at the invitational event.

The Canes' Brandon Sutter will play his 100th NHL game tonight. ... Eric Staal is tied with Kevin Dineen for second place in franchise history in power-play goals (71). ...

Jussi Jokinen has points in six straight games (5 goals, 2 assists). ...  Since the start of December, the Canes are 16-13-2 overall and 8-8-1 on the road. ...

The Panthers have lost their last three games and four of five. They're 2-for-23 on the power play in the five games and just 3-38 on the power play in their last 10 games. ...

Florida has scored 12 goals in the last 10 games and has been shut out twice. ...

David Booth has two assists in the four games since returning from a concussion that sidelined him 45 games. ...

Country Driver and DissyMission are currently free. Check out the demo videos.

The 2010 N.C. Shrine Bowl Combines will be held April 17 (at
Matthews Butler High School), April 24 (at Boone Watauga High School),
May 1 (at Eastern Alamance High School) and May 8 (at South Central
High School).

Andy McCollum, who had coached linebackers for three seasons at N.C. State, is leaving to join Georgia Tech’s staff.

Pending formal approval by the school, McCollum will serve as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator for the Yellow Jackets.

McCollum, 50, grew up in Marietta, Ga., where his father still lives. He had recruited Georgia for N.C. State.

The Great Schools in Wake Coalition is organizing a trio of meetings to build community support for saving the school diversity policy.

In a press release Monday, the group announced a pair of February neighborhood forums "to educate the public about critical issues facing our schools." But the biggest event could be a March forum that will include Bill McNeal, Gerald Grant, Richard Kahlenberg and Caroline Massengill.

The first forum will be on Feb. 18 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at St. Matthews AME Church, 1629 Bennett St. in Raleigh. The speakers will include retired educator Dudley Flood, Margaret Rose Murray and Wake County Commissioner Lindy Brown.

DURHAM Raleigh and Durham, along with several other jurisdictions, have reached a meeting of the minds on Falls Lake.

While their respective city councils and county commissioners have yet to sign off, officials of 11 Triangle-area governments approved a set of "concensus principles" for the state's program for cleaning up the polluted reservoir at a Tuesday meeting at the Triangle J Council of Governments.

"The managers of Raleigh, Durham city and Durham County, the lawyers representing [them] ... all agree with the guiding principles," said Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen. "We are prepared to recommend them to our boards."

The 12 principles prescribe measures to bring water quality at Raleigh’s intake to acceptable standards within 10 years, and for ongoing water-quality monitoring in the lake and its tributaries and revisions to the cleanup regulations if data indicates they are needed.

“It's a lot of give and take,” said Durham County manager Mike Ruffin. “I think we feel about as good about it as we can feel. We've done what's best for the watershed, we found consensus on what we can work [on] together.”

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams said the retirement of Tyler Hansbrough's No. 50 jersey would be "off the charts" if the 13-10 Tar Heels were playing better. But he knows the official ceremony, which will take place at halftime of Wednesday's game against Duke, will be "fantastic."

"One of these days, when I'm sitting back in my golf cart and waiting for my time to tee it up, I'm going to think about how special it was to coach Tyler Hansbrough,'' Williams said. "I'm going to think of how lucky I was to coach Tyler Hansbrough. I'm going to think of how effective he was for our team; because he set the standard. We had the national championship in 2005, so he didn't have to legitimize our program again or anything like that, but he set a standard for four years for everybody that stepped out on the court.

"And even some of his own teammates -- no, all of his teammates, at some time -- were in awe of what he did. And that's pretty neat."

The 5-feet-by-8-feet banner commemorating his jersey was already in the rafters for Tuesday's practice. It is only the eighth number to be retired.

After playing in the shadow of the Smith Center's retired jerseys and meeting the men who wore them, Tyler Hansbrough can't wait to join them tomorrow.

"I'm really excited just to come back," he said Tuesday from Indianapolis. "It's a big deal for me just to be there. Everybody who wore those jerseys, I watched them all and I have a great deal of respect for them. For me to be in that category is something I take pride in."

Here are upcoming food events, cooking classes, wine dinners and more around the Triangle: 

Edible Arrangements Ribbon Cutting
Please join the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce in welcoming Edible Arrangements to our community. 10 a.m. Wednesday. Free. Edible Arrangements, 7737 Good Middling Road, Fayetteville. (910) 484-4242. http://www.fayettevillencchamber.org 
Rhone Valley Wine Course
This course is designed to give a better understanding of the wines from this region as well as the special methods used in making them. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays in February. Wine Merchant, 1214 Ridge Rd., Raleigh. 828-6929.
Chocolate and Champagne tasting
Please join us at our chocolate and champagne tasting fundraiser to benefit the animals of Second Chance Pet Adoptions. Experience the decadent pleasures of all things chocolate, then pamper your taste buds with complimentary sparkling champagne and enjoy an evening of music, fun and the accompaniment of our adoptable cats and dogs. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $15. Second Chance Pet Adoptions, 6003 Chapel Hill Road, Raleigh. 801-3230. www.secondchancenc.org/